When the weather outside drops below 0, I instantly begin to crave hotpot. During the winter, my family would often hotpot at home every weekend. I loved prepping all of my favourite ingredients with my mom and then spending a night gathered around the steaming pot. Hotpot is generally a family meal, where the more the merrier, so I would often request it when I went to my parents’ for dinner. With just the two of us, The Hubby and I usually go out for hot pot, but this winter, we bought the equipment so we could enjoy the style of cooking at home. Although we always end up with a ton of leftovers, the convenience of having our own stove has been a delicious treat. With only two people though, we do end up making sacrifices on the variety of ingredients, trying to choose groceries that can be used again later in the week. Below I’ve listed out my hotpot must-haves (italics), and optional ingredients I enjoy when we have more people.

Equipment
Generally, I hotpot at home using a gas camping stove. These stoves are often used in Asian restaurants that offer ‘tabletop cooking’. As for the pot, most Chinese grocery stores sell large “steaming pots” that fit perfectly on a camping stove. These pots are shallow and wide, lots of boiling surface area and heat up quickly. Some pots include a partition separating the pot in two, allowing for different soup flavours and perfect if there are ingredients that are not enjoyed by the entire table. With just The Hubby and I, we chose to just go with a regular pot. Ladles are also a must for scooping out ingredients when they’re ready. Typically, small individual ladles are used. For us, we just use a single large round ladle.

We usually buy a pre-packaged soup base from the grocery store. Our favourite is the spicy Little Fat Lamb one. When we use a pot with two sections, I will usually have one side spicy and one not. Chicken and pork bone broths can also be used as a base, even just plain water. I would recommend adding in some aromatics such as green onion, daikon (to help with gaminess of lamb) and cilantro if everyone enjoys it.

As ingredients are cooked, the soup takes on more flavours and grows in richness and taste. Thus, I like to start with cooking lamb or beef first, then moving to milder seafood (shrimp, fish balls), vegetables once the soup is rich and oily, before ending with carbs.

Dipping Sauce
Hotpot is pretty much just boiled food. Depending on the soup base used, the cooked ingredients may not be the most seasoned. Thus, I think one of the most important aspects of a successful hotpot meal, is the dipping sauce. When eating out, I love restaurants that provide a wide variety of ingredients for me to customize my own sauce. When I hotpot at home, I already have all of these asian sauces handy. If you don’t, many Chinese grocery stores do sell pre-made dipping sauces.

Proteins
With just two people, we usually just pick up a small package of fish or beef balls and one tray of sliced lamb. In general, I portion out 1 tray of meat per person.

Vegetables
When it comes to vegetables, almost anything goes! The key for leafy greens is to fish them out quickly. Wintermelon takes longer to cook and is perfect once the flesh turns transparent, it will melt into the soup if left for too long.

Carbs
In between plates of plate and fresh vegetables, I like to through in noodles and rice cakes that cook at the bottom of the pot until they’re soft and full of flavour.

I am guilty of eating out a lot, especially during the week. While I love to cook big meals with The Hubby on weekends, during the week I am lazy. Add in the fact that The Hubby often travels for work during the week, means I’m usually eating noodles straight from a pot or take-out container. Chefs Plate makes weekday dinners easy by delivering 99% of the ingredients for a delicious meal, all measured out, ready to cook, right to your door (or condo security guy). Chef’s Plate would be a great meal solution for busy professionals, people learning to cook, or if you’re hoping to impress a date.

Disclaimer: Products reviewed below were provided complimentary by Chefs Plate. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine and not indicative of the opinions or positions held by Chefs Plate.

The Basics:
Chef’s Plate is a weekly meal subscription delivery service based on downtown Toronto. Each week, subscribers choose from an array of meals designed by their executive chef. Meals include gluten free, dairy free and vegetarian options. There are currently 2 plans available priced at ~$11/plate, one for 2 people with the option of 2 or 3 meals per week (an additional shipping fee is charged for 2 meals) or 4 people with 2 meals per week. Deliveries are made on Mondays of each week for the GTA and Tuesday for the rest of Ontario. There is no minimum week commitment, however the subscription will auto-renew if not paused or cancelled.

My Experience:
My box from Chef’s Plate arrived before 5pm on Monday and it was a bit like Christmas. The package was well insulated and had 2 large ice packs to keep all the meat and produce fresh. I had ordered the Moroccan Lamb Burger and Flank Steak meals for the week. Fresh ingredients for each were separated in large plastic bags and colourful recipe sheets on thick cardstock were provided.

What I Liked:

• Most important, the finished product! I really enjoyed my burger, the lamb was amazing with lots of flavour, fatty and juicy.
• All of the produce were fresh and the bun moist.
• Seriously, another callout to the lamb.
• I liked the packaging, the contents were layered thoughtfully to protect each ingredient (buns on top!)
• It was quick, in total making this meal did take less than 30 minutes.
• Chef’s Plate has an extensive FAQ on their website that answers pretty much every questions I had.
• When you’re choosing a recipe, the amount of time required, skill level and calorie estimate was all listed. This information was repeated on the recipe cards. Great for those with dietary restrictions or counting calories.
• Being able to skip weeks or pause your subscription at any time.
• Introduced new repertoire of flavours. When I cook, I skew towards Asian flavours, aka soy sauce, so it was nice to try a different profile in such an easy to cook format.
• The convenience, it can be hard to get the right amount of groceries to cook for just one or two people. Chef’s plate eliminates the worry about leftover ingredients like half a carrot, by providing exactly what’s needed.

What could use work:

• While I liked the packaging, with each ingredient being individually packaged, there was a lot of plastic bags. I’m not sure if there’s a way to improve this, but it did feel very wasteful.
• Too much onion, I had enough to top at least 6 burgers. Again this would be a hard point to improve on. Half an onion would not be the way to go and it may be difficult to provide only small red onions.
• Price. If I compare to buying groceries ourselves, Chef’s Plate is more expensive. However the service was well executed, delivered great ingredients and is worth it, paying for the convenience. This would make a great gift to busy professionals or people just learning to cook.

TL;DR: Plenty of choices to fit all tastebuds, easy to follow recipe instructions, fresh quality ingredients, more expensive than buying groceries but the convenience is worth the cost.

If you’re interested in checking out Chef’s Plate, use this link to receive 2 free plate (or 1 meal kit) with your first order.

After visiting the North York location of Chinese Halal Restaurant with my parents, The Hubby and I wanted to bring his parents as well. Since they’re in Markham, we decided to try the restaurant’s alternate location in Scarborough. Between the two, there were a few menu differences (no toffee apples in Scarborough) and the North York location was much busier. Overall though, the flavours were consistent and all of the signature dishes were present.

Atmosphere: Compared to their North York location, Chinese Halal Restaurant Scarborough is much smaller, less than half the size, with 3 tables for large groups. During our visit, only 3 or 4 tables became occupied. The restaurant decor was modern and clean but at the same time, the tables were covered with layers of plastic table cloths. It was a casual, family venue.

Service: The menu was written in Chinese and English. For each signature dishes, a paragraph explained some history and elaborated on how the dish was made. I only read the English names, and there was signature “lamb noodle” and a normal “lamb noodle”. We didn’t know what the different was and ordered the normal one to try. Turns out that was actually a beef noodle dish and the English was incorrectly translated. We explained our confusion, the menu error and they replaced the dish. Other elements of the service was standard, a touch on the slow side.

Food: Dinner started with BBQ lamb skewers, my favourite. The meat was heavily seasoned, tender, with the fat rendered well. Outside of night markets, Chinese Halal is the place for lamb skewers. For our vegetable, we ordered the spicy green beans with lamb. This dish had a lot of flavour, from lots of garlic and oil. Next was the toothpick lamb which was seasoned the same as the skewers but with thinner pieces of meat. I found the meat tougher and didn’t understand the need for the toothpicks (Google hasn’t provided a good answer either). Between the two, I’d stick to just ordering the skewers.

One dish that did stand out was the stir fried Tripe with Tong Choy that had good wok air. The tong choy used was young, tender, crispy and the tripe was soft and chewy. The bowl of hand pulled lamb noodles had a savoury broth and a good noodle texture – another dish that is a must-try.

Our meal ended with a big bowl of Fish and Lamb soup. While a seemingly odd combination, the two strong flavours balanced each other super well and created a rich, milky soup that I couldn’t stop drinking. There wasn’t even a hint of fishiness, just a strong lamb taste, accented with plenty of white pepper. A nice addition would’ve been fresh lettuce leaves to hot pot in the soup or noodles. Regardless, we made sure not a drop was wasted.

With Easter coming up this weekend, this Leg of Lamb Roast makes a perfect centrepiece for a family meal. It’s amazing how easy the recipe is and how beautiful the lamb turns out with the help of a meat thermometer, which was by far my best kitchen gadget investment of 2014. If you’re looking for a change from turkey, lamb is a great alternative.

Leg of Lamb Roast

2015-04-02 02:37:58

Serves 6

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

1 hr 30 min

Total Time

1 hr 45 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

1 hr 30 min

Total Time

1 hr 45 min

Ingredients

1. 1 leg of lamb bone-in (2-3kg)
2. 6 cloves of garlic, minced
3. 2 tbsp olive oil
4. 3 stems of rosemary, fresh or dried
5. salt and ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Let the lamb sit out of the refrigerator to reach room temperature before cooking, place the lamb in a roasting pan on top of a rack
2. Rub the lamb with olive oil and generously season both sides with salt and ground black pepper
3. Broil the lamb until it is seared and browned, then flip and repeat for the other side
4. Set the oven to 325 degrees F and place oven rack in middle of the oven
5. Mince the cloves of garlic, mix with rosemary and pat onto both sides of the lamb
6. Tent the roasting pan loosely with tin foil and roast until desired internal temperature (135 degrees for medium rare - medium, ~1 hour to 1 hour 1/2)
7. Rest the lamb for 15 minutes before carving

Notes

1. The lamb will continue to cook a bit once out of the oven. For best results, remove from the oven when the internal temperature is a 5-10 degrees lower than desired.
2. The pictures lef of lamb was taken out of the oven at an internal temperature of 135 degrees

xiaoEats | Toronto Food Blog http://xiaoeats.com/

Step by Step Photos

Assemble ingredients, let lamb sit until at room temperature

Rub both sides with olive oil, season with salt and pepper

Broil each side until browned

Mince garlic and mix with rosemary

Pat garlic and rosemary onto both sides of the lamb

Insert meat thermometer, tent pan with tin foil and roast at 325 degrees F for ~ 1 hour

Let lamb sit for 15 minutes before carving

For a recent family lunch, my mom requested BBQ lamb skewers. At Taste of Asia, my favourite vendor was Chinese Halal Restaurant and conveniently, they have a location in North York. Reservations were made and a lot of lamb dishes were ordered.

Atmosphere: The restaurant decor is modern with plenty of large tables. Each round table was equipped with a glass lazy susan and had comfortable white leather chairs. For a late lunch, half of the tables were filled. I could see the restaurant being suitable for a casual meal or nice family dinner.

Service: There was nothing out of the ordinary about service, which was efficient. Every dish arrived quickly and bills were settled at a central counter.

Food: Since the meal was centered around BBQ lamb skewers, we ordered a lot (3/person). The spice blend was balanced and rich, while the lamb was fatty and charred. I would eat the skewers while they’re still hot. As they cool, the lamb flavour becomes more prominent and the fatty parts start to solidify.

We also ordered a toothpick lamb slices, braised beef, fried pancakes filled with lamb, steamed lamb chops and two bowls of hand pulled noodles. The spice used on the toothpick lamb was the same as the skewers with a more tender cut of meat and again, helped balance out the gamey lamb taste. We all really enjoyed the fried filled pancakes. If there’s too much lamb, this dish can also come with a sliced beef filling. Either way the pancake was crispy and delicious. The braised beef and onions had a great sauce and the meat fell apart being picked up with chopsticks. For me, the weakest dish was the steamed lamb chop. The dish had the most lamb taste, was a little chewy and too boney. A dipping sauce was served that cut down on some of the gameyness, but not enough.

One of my favourite dishes was the bowl of hand pulled, thick noodles in a milky lamb broth. The soup was flavourful, had a mild lamb flavour and wasn’t gamey at all, while the noodles had a great texture and were chewy. The thin pulled noodles in beef broth was also good and a good non-lamb choice.

As my family was finishing up, the table next to us received their order of toffee apples, watching the server pulling each apple slice and dunking them in sugar, we had to eat a plate too. The apples were soft, just cooked and the sugar coating was thin, even and crackled with each bite. I’d have no challenges eating an apple a day in this format.

One of our last dinners in Maui was at the Hali’imaile General Store. Located next to pineapple fields on the slopes of Haleakala volcano, the general store has evolved from offering deli and catering to one of the highest rated restaurants on Maui. With a menu featuring fresh local ingredients and Asian flavours, this meal was one of the highlights of our trip.

Atmosphere: After driving through fields to reach the restaurant, its quaint, traditional store front was fitting and welcoming. The restaurant interior was decorated with rich, colourful paintings and hanging 3D fish. There was a lively atmosphere and the space felt warm, comfortable.

Service: Our server was friendly and helpful. After we placed our orders, we noticed the gorgeous sunset outside and The Fiance grabbed his camera to take a few shots outside. Spotting me, along at the table, our server offered to take pictures of The Fiance and I on the restaurant porch. It was a wonderful gesture. I declined but he helped out a few other couples.

Food: With two appetizers and two entrees, we didn’t think we had ordered too much food but the portion sizes of the entrees were more than generous. We could’ve easily split one between the two of us.

To start, I couldn’t resist Bev’s Famous Pizza and the refreshing Sashimi Napoleon. Both dishes were excellent. The pizza was rich, while airy and that crab-topping is a secret worth keeping. Creamy, cheesy, delicious. The Napoleon used fresh, fatty cuts of fish that were buttery soft and complemented by the crunchy fried wonton wrappers. I also enjoyed the light vinaigrette that had a hint of wasabi and ponzu.

The strong Asian flavours were also present in the entrees. I chose the Grilled Rack of Lamb while The Fiance was won over by the Crispy Roast Half Duck. My racks of lamb were cooked to a perfect medium and the black bean Hunan sauce was sweet, thick, savoury and reminded me of Hoisin sauce but spicier and with more sesame. The wasabi mashed potatoes were also smooth, creamy and had a good kick. We had trouble finishing the half duck and ended up taking a good chunk home. The Grand Marnier sauce was sweet and tangy, a very elevated version of orange chicken with a way better crispy duck. The skin on the duck was well-seasoned and the picture speaks for how beautifully it was cooked. I was surprised by how much heat the plates had.

At Hali’imaile General Store, the Asian influences on Hawaiian cooking shone bright and made each dish special and unique.

Starting off the summer of Asian food festivals was Taste of Asia. The event ran over the weekend of June 28th and took over a portion of Kennedy Road, right next to Pacific Mall. Two stages are set up, book ending the street, and vendor booths line the space in between. Performances from all Asian cultures (from a Bollywood Show to Thai Boxing) took place throughout the entire weekend on the two stages.

I stopped by on the Saturday afternoon to get my fill of stinky tofu and lamb skewers. It was sweltering hot and with the event being on a street, there was little natural shade. The organizers had set up picnic tables with umbrellas near the stages, but they weren’t helpful while you waited in line. I was hoping to beat the crowd by going in the afternoon, but it was already packed at 1pm, lines were long and a lot of the food vendors hadn’t fully ramped up their stoves yet. This meant a good 30-40 minute wait for any of the popular food items under direct sun. I only made it through half of booths before the Fiance and I called it a day. Lesson learned; while crowded at least it’s cool at night.

We started off at booth 12, who specialized in lamb skewers and they were delicious, easily the highlight of the day. $5 for 3 skewers, grilled, fatty and sprinkled with spicy pepper flakes. While I waited for the skewers, the Fiance picked up a large Panda Milk Tea from the Presotea booth in an attempt to ward off the heat. The “panda” in the name refers to the black and white tapioca balls used, which taste the same. I stopped by DimSumcity’s booth to check out their adorable plushies and t-shirts. Seriously, they have the most adorable stinky tofu t-shirt.

My next stop was a whole grilled squid skewer for $10. The portion size was large and I really enjoyed the flavours. Some parts of our skewer was a touch undercooked. At the same time, the Fiance queued up for the Barcode booth that, unfortunately, took over an hour and produced under cooked lamb skewers. He couldn’t leave the line because orders were prepaid for. The booth only had one charcoal grill going, which produced a dozen skewers at a time. The most frustrating part was the person in front of him who had ordered two dozen skewers, received the first dozen and then proceeded to eat the skewers in line while waiting for his second dozen. Totally valid, but still frustrating.

Next up was a skewer of crispy taro chips. I loved the idea and the execution was really tasty. While I waited in line for stinky tofu, The Fiance found a booth offering cold dan dan noodles that were authentic and delicious. We were looking for new foods to try in addition to favourites and these noodles hit the spot. There was also a booth with a Beijing Yogurt Drink that looked very interesting but I didn’t have the energy to wait in line. Hopefully they’ll be at Night it Up or Waterfront Night Market.

My last stop of the day was Taiwanese style stinky tofu from Mama Bear Taiwanese Cuisine’s booth. For $7, you got a large tray of stinky tofu with a side of pickled cabbages. Self serve hoisin and hot sauce in squeeze bottles were set up for people to use. The tofu pieces were well fried, crispy, very stinky and tasted great.

Overall Taste of Asia offered the typical night market foods with some variety in vendors. The location close to Pacific Mall means it will always be busy and there’s no real downtime. The many performances were the major draw more so than the food.

Cooking goat or lamb has always been daunting for me. While I love the eat the gamey protein, it is still a foreign ingredient in my kitchen. This stew recipe, adapted for a slow cooker from allrecipes was a great first step into cooking goat with minimal risk of screwing it up. Also, it’s delicious.

Irish Goat Stew

2014-06-26 18:50:06

Serves 8

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Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

4 hr

Total Time

4 hr 30 min

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

4 hr

Total Time

4 hr 30 min

Ingredients

1. 1 pack of bacon (~1lb)
2. 3lbs of goat belly (shoulder cut will also work, belly makes the stew very fatty)
3. 4 medium potatoes, diced
4. 2 onions, cubed
5. 1 onion, minced
6. 3 carrots, diced
7. 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
8. 3 gloves of garlic, minced
9. 1/2 tsp salt
10. 1/2 tsp black pepper
11. 1 tsp thyme
12. 2 bay leaves
13. 2 tsp white sugar
14. 4 cups of beef broth
15. 1 cup of white wine
16. 1/2 cup of water (if needed)

Instructions

1. Cut up the bacon and cook in a pan until crispy, set the bacon aside and leave the oil in the pan.
2. Place your goat pieces in a large bowl, add in the flour, salt and pepper and coat each piece evenly. Once coated, brown the goat in the bacon oil until the outside is crispy and set aside.
3. In the same pan, sautee the minced garlic and onions until the onions soften. Deglaze the pan with water and transfer all the drippings to your slow cooker.
4. Add the browned goat pieces, cooked bacon and beef stock to the slow cooker and set on high for 2 hours.
5. After the 2 hours, add in the wine, thyme, bay leaves, diced onions, carrots and potatoes and set to high for another 2 hours.

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Adapted from allrecipes.com

xiaoEats | Toronto Food Blog http://xiaoeats.com/

Step by Step Photos

Assemble ingredients

Bacon and goat pieces cut into pieces by the butcher

Chop up the bacon

Cook the bacon and set aside, saving the fat

Bacon, diced potatoes and onions

Flour the goat

Brown each goat piece

And set aside

Saute the minced garlic and onions, add the bacon, goat and broth to the slow cooker, cook on high for 2 hours before adding the remaining ingredients

Adding the final ingredients, cook on high for another 2 hours

During each liciousTO event I like to organize a group meal at a new restaurant for my friends, which usually means a party of 8-10. I look for a restaurant with more than three entree options and a dining area large enough to fit us comfortably. Destingo fit both of these criteria and was my top choice based on their consistent positive reviews.

Atmosphere: Wood grain tables, exposed cement walls and large glass pendant lights make up the dining space. The kitchen is fully open to the seating area and bottles of wine line the wall across from individual washrooms. Every square foot of the restaurant is economically designed and serves a function. With this, there’s plenty of room to seat several large groups without worry about elbow room. The noise level at the beginning of dinner was comfortable but as more customers arrived, the decibels increased and echoed making conversation difficult. Our table also got chillier as the night went on.
Service: The service that night was friendly but unorganized with a slight frantic feel. Our entire meal took 3 hours and while this was nice to hang out with friends and no one really minded, it was longer than I had planned for. We waited a good 20 minutes after ordering before appetizers arrived and another good amount of time after plates were cleared before entrees were served. Our server was wonderful and brought bread refills between the two courses. One of my friends also managed to spill his water and that was quickly cleaned up.

Food: Two bread boards were served with an amazing sweet butter that was quickly devoured. This was one instance where the butter was finished with bread left behind (very little). I ordered the Verde Salad for my appetizer and the BF had the calamari. Our table heavily favoured the calamari with only one person ordering the soup of the day, cream of mushroom. Portions were generous and my salad was very refreshing with slices of apple, nutty walnuts, plentiful parmesan cheese and a light dressing. The greens served with the calamari was more heavily dressed. The squid itself was grilled, not battered and tender, easy to bite through. I loved the olives and capers making the dish feel like a traditional antipasto.

The BF and I both ordered the New Zealand lamb and I snagged a piece of the Quattro Funghi Pizza from a friend. My lamb was cooked to a medium rare, tender and had a good gamey flavour while the mint sauce was fresh and not overpowering. The dish was well executed and used colourful vegetables to round out the presentation. I really liked the crust on the pizza, paper thin and crispy. I found the asiago a little strong for my taste and masked the mushrooms a bit. I didn’t get to try the Chicken Parmigiana but heard good things and the bite of Pappardelle I had was delicious. The pasta was thin, al dente and almost made me wish I had ordered that as my main. As for portions, the lamb was the smallest dish but still a good size while the pizza and pasta were on the larger side.

I did get to sample all the desserts and my favourite was the Tiramisu, followed closely by the Molten Chocolate Cake. The apple strudel was only ok, especially after the amazing Apply Purse I had at Bent. The tiramisu was rich, creamy and had a wonderful coffee flavour. The Molten Chocolate Cake was more dense and less molten than I had expected but nonetheless tasty.

2013 marked the 20th birthday of Taste of the Danforth, an annual street festival celebrating Greek cuisine in Toronto. It seems like every year the festival is growing with more restaurants and inspiring similar events throughout Toronto’s many cultural neighbourhoods.

Tents line both sides of the street in front of each restaurant transforming blocks of Danforth Ave with smoky lamb chops, spits of quail and delicious grilled souvlaki.

Atmosphere: It gets crowded. Bring a water bottle, wet wipes and good cheer. Special sponsor tents are set up in the middle of the street and around the performance stage, but for the most part there’s little shade and lots of standing in line. Personally, I’m much more purposeful now when I attend with a checklist in mind of foods and vendors I want to visit. The festival gets a little boozy at night, all in good fun. If you’re visiting with family, I’d try to beat the rush by starting early and walking the street at a leisurely pace.

Service: Every stall I visited was efficient and friendly. Like most street festivals though, it can be hard to find napkins and food is served on a variety of options from paper plates to wax paper. Be prepared to get your hands a little greasy, the food’s worth it.

Food: This year, the BF and I only had a couple of hours to satiate our appetite for Greek cuisine so we had a gameplan. We were focused on lamb chops, souvlaki, crab gratin (a yearly favourite of the BF’s) and quail.

I don’t remember where we grabbed our quail and the first set of lamb chops from (bad blogger right?) but we chose one with a short line and best value. 2 fatty chops for $5. They were greasy as the picture shows and therefore full of flavour. I liked the quail but there were a lot of bones and it was a bit hard to eat, walk and not choke.

At Ocean Treasure’s Fish Market’s stall, they grill the most amazing crab shell gratin. Usually the line will span the block. Luckily we were early enough and didn’t have to wait long for our cheesy seafood goodness, served with two pieces of bread to soak up all the sauce. This dish is a stand out for me and the first stall I’ll run to. We finishing this year’s Taste of the Danforth with two more lamb chops and souvlaki from Ella’s Meat Market. I didn’t have any room left for a gyro from Messini, that’ll have to wait for next year.